Massie Claims His GOP Primary Battle Is About Whether ‘Israel Gets to Buy Seats in Congress’

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) spoke to veteran congressional reporter Pablo Manríquez on Friday while leaving to the U.S. Capitol to fly home to campaign in his hotly contested GOP primary.

“Let’s do it! I’m walking to an airplane to rejoin the most expensive congressional race in U.S. history,” Massie said as Manríquez approached him for a Q&A.
“Tell us about that,” Manríquez added.

“Yeah, well, it’s a referendum, really, unfortunately. It’s turned into whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress. And what they found out is that my seat is really expensive. They probably, when this is over, will have spent $20 million and come up short,” Massie replied.

Manríquez followed up, “Why is Israel the only country that gets to buy elections in the United States?”

“Does any other country get to?” he added.

Massie replied, “You know, I’ve never seen Great Britain, Australia, or even Germany play in our elections here in the United States, but Israel gets so much from the United States. It’s a one-sided relationship. They get us to be their proxies in wars that they want against their enemies. They give us military assistance. They gave us technology. They get our bombs. They get our tax dollars. I think it’s a very one-sided relationship. At least with NATO, we pretend that they would come to our aid someday if we needed it, and even that’s a ruse.”

Massie, a long-time critic of Israel and foreign intervention, has also become a fierce critic of President Donald Trump following their break over the Big Beautiful Bill last year, and Trump is promoting a primary challenger to oust Massie. Massie’s opponent has also been targeted by Trump allies and GOP mega-donors like Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer, who support pro-Israel causes.

In the latest poll, Massie is trailing Trump-backed Ed Gallrein 48 to 43 percent ahead of the May 19th primary vote.

Massie’s race grabbed headlines earlier in the week when Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) son accosted Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) at a DC bar, saying that Jews would be the reason Massie loses. Lawler later detailed what William Paul said to him, saying, “But he then went on a roughly 10-minute diatribe about Israel, about Jews, about Paul Singer, and accusing Jews of being responsible for so many things, playing right into the typical anti-Semitic tropes that so many people rely on. And at one point, he said that he hates Jews and hates gays and doesn’t care if they die.

Watch the clip above.

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